Cold and Dry Conditions

A quick look at the temps across the Southeast shows that it is warming up very slowly. Most locations remain well below freezing at this hour, and it will be difficult for many locations to warm up above the freezing mark this afternoon. We do have full sunshine today, with almost a cloud free sky across Central Alabama. The lack of clouds shows how dry an atmosphere we have over the state.

It seems like it has been quite a while since Central Alabama has seen a significant rain. The persistent northwest flow that we’ve had the last few weeks has been preventing much of a moisture return from the Gulf of Mexico. The lack of moisture is drying us out and has been a main culprit behind the numerous red flag warnings we have seen the last week.

The drier weather lately has Birmingham running a rainfall deficit of 2.04 inches for 2014. As we look at the U.S. Drought monitor for this week, much of the Southeast U.S. and the state are doing well despite the recent dry weather. A lot of it has to do with the surplus of rain that much of the state had in 2013. Birmingham ended the year with a surplus of just over 14 inches while Anniston’s surplus was over two feet. The soil moisture content appears to be preventing drought conditions from developing across the region. However, as we look out towards next week, dry weather will continue across Alabama and we could begin to see some Abnormally Dry conditions develop.

For the rest of the U.S., the persistent ridge over the west is keeping the weather warm and very dry across the western U.S. There are many areas that are experiencing drought conditions and these conditions will continue until there is a change in the weather pattern.

Category: Alabama's Weather